Sapphyre
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I'm curious if anyone has had an experience similar to this.
For some years now, I've noticed anecdotally that it is very rare for me to fall ill with colds or flu. I count the time between colds and bouts of flu in years, although I never bother with flu shots. The last two colds I had were about 8 years apart, and the last two bouts of flu were about 14 years apart. The phenomenon has become more apparent since I moved in with room mates a few months back. Shortly after my arrival, my room mates "traded colds" with one another, both getting sick twice. Both colds missed me. More recently, one of my roomies caught a cold from the server at a restaurant we visited together (though both of us were exposed, of course). The other roomie caught it from her, and it then proceeded to tear through her entire family (who live nearby). Meanwhile, while she was acutely ill, the roomie and I made no attempt to keep distance from one another, and in fact continued sharing a vaporizer the entire time… sharing the same mouthpiece and inhaling deeply. And yet, still, the virus just bounced off…
I have been unable to pinpoint any particular reason why this should be. I have actually seen an immunologist before due to other quirks of my immune system. It turns out I have fairly severe but uncommon allergies (e.g. parsnips can cause anaphylaxis but things like peanuts and shellfish are fine), and the immunologist mentioned that I was one of his "interesting" clients. Among his findings were that my system reacts minimally (almost not at all, in fact) to histamine, which explains why histamine blockers such as Claritin have historically been entirely ineffective at treating my more common seasonal allergies (as a teen I wondered aloud if they were relying on placebo effect, because they seemed to do absolutely nothing). Instead my immune responses appear to be almost exclusively mediated by leukotrienes. I don't know if this helps to explain my resistance to respiratory infections or if it's just yet another unrelated quirk — my background in medicine is a bit spotty. :sweatdrop:
Does anyone have any insights or similar experiences? How unusual is it to miss cold after cold despite significant exposure?
For some years now, I've noticed anecdotally that it is very rare for me to fall ill with colds or flu. I count the time between colds and bouts of flu in years, although I never bother with flu shots. The last two colds I had were about 8 years apart, and the last two bouts of flu were about 14 years apart. The phenomenon has become more apparent since I moved in with room mates a few months back. Shortly after my arrival, my room mates "traded colds" with one another, both getting sick twice. Both colds missed me. More recently, one of my roomies caught a cold from the server at a restaurant we visited together (though both of us were exposed, of course). The other roomie caught it from her, and it then proceeded to tear through her entire family (who live nearby). Meanwhile, while she was acutely ill, the roomie and I made no attempt to keep distance from one another, and in fact continued sharing a vaporizer the entire time… sharing the same mouthpiece and inhaling deeply. And yet, still, the virus just bounced off…
I have been unable to pinpoint any particular reason why this should be. I have actually seen an immunologist before due to other quirks of my immune system. It turns out I have fairly severe but uncommon allergies (e.g. parsnips can cause anaphylaxis but things like peanuts and shellfish are fine), and the immunologist mentioned that I was one of his "interesting" clients. Among his findings were that my system reacts minimally (almost not at all, in fact) to histamine, which explains why histamine blockers such as Claritin have historically been entirely ineffective at treating my more common seasonal allergies (as a teen I wondered aloud if they were relying on placebo effect, because they seemed to do absolutely nothing). Instead my immune responses appear to be almost exclusively mediated by leukotrienes. I don't know if this helps to explain my resistance to respiratory infections or if it's just yet another unrelated quirk — my background in medicine is a bit spotty. :sweatdrop:
Does anyone have any insights or similar experiences? How unusual is it to miss cold after cold despite significant exposure?